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THE TRUTH 


ABOUT 


HAVANA 


CIGARS «- 

DV 


D I 

GUSTAVO BOCK 

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PUBLISHED BY THE 

HAVANA TOBACCO COMPANY, III FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY HAVANA TOBACCO COMPANY. 

gy transfer fro» Oil ^ O 

Pat. Ottc* LA** 
April 1914, 







COMMANDER 

ROYAL ORDER 

OF THE 

PRUSSIAN 

CROWN. 




COMMAN 

ROYAL O) 

OF 

ISABEL LA C/ 

WITH 

GRAND S 



GUSTAVO BOCK 

^«™ S » I ?J?«T. ° F THE HAVANA TOBACCO COMPANY AND RESIDENT MANAGING DIRECTOR IN CUBA OF THE HAVA] 



-, ZvtVETA 10, Havana, Cuba, 

0\», ; ^ J ' • ,Xv 7«^ 7 ^ 7 W- 

Having, during a residerice pn'^hi^, Island of forty-six years, devoted all my 
time to discovering, to the minutest detail, the 'best method for the production of 
the highest quality of Havana Cigars, I respectfully submit the following pages to 
all intelligent smokers of good cigars, placing before them the convictions of one 
who has had perhaps greater opportunities, owing to longer experience, than any 
other manufacturer of cigars, in full confidence that my opinions will meet with 
unchallenged acceptance. The statements I have made are incontestable and can 
be verified; and I have therefore the right to ask that they be taken as facts. 
If what I have just said be understood and accepted, no further argument is 
necessary to demonstrate that the cigars manufactured under my personal direc- 
tion in the twenty-three factories controlled by the Havana Tobacco Company 
cannot be equaled in character, in quality or in workmanship by any other cigars 
in the world. 

Very faithfully yours, 






iyo4 




■ «, o e & « 

• » • & : ' ® 

<. a • • . * 

. 8 9« • «*'* 



6 G 




BBKui 




TOBACCO PLANTATION IN VUELTA ABAJO DISTRICT, CUBA. 

4 



SELECTION OF SOIL. 

THE only soil which will produce suitable Leaf Tobacco for fine Havana 
Cigars is in the western end of the Island of Cuba, in the Province of 
Pinar del Rio. This is a small territory; a chain of mountains runs 
through this section of Cuba lengthwise of the Island, and at nearly an equal 
distance from the Gulf of Mexico on the north and the Carribbean Sea on the 
south, and the mountains form a sort of backbone, the land sloping off to the gulf 
and sea on either side, the distance being nearly the same to each body of water. 

The finest lands and plantations are on the south side of the mountains, in 
a well-watered, rolling country, full of natural beauty and in a climate which is 
mild, sweet, gentle and pure. This particular section is known as the Vuelta 
Abajo District, and no other part of Cuba produces genuine Vuelta Abajo 
tobacco. The soil is of the color of chocolate, and is from two to twelve feet 
deep. There is abundant evidence of the presence of volcanoes in past ages. 
Many of the plantations are world-famous for the quality of the Leaf Tobacco 
grown on them and many of the rich and titled families of Spain drew their 
fortunes from the lands in this veritable garden. 

Most of the buildings on these estates were burned in the long and destruc- 
tive war between the Cubans and the Spaniards, and the former owners have in 
nearly every case returned to their native country, Spain. 




FIRST CROP READY FOR HARVESTING— VUELTA ABAJO DISTRICT. 

6 



During the past two years the principal owners, the Havana Tobacco 
Company, has bought up the choicest of all these plantations, embracing in all 
nearly 225,000 acres. The buildings have been replaced and improved and the 
farms are being brought up to the highest and most scientific state of cultivation. 

It is from these plantations that the celebrated factories controlled by Havana 
Tobacco Company secure their supply of Leaf Tobacco^ and are able to give to the 
world's consumers of fine cigars that superiority of quality which has made and main- 
tains for these factories the world over a recognized superiority above all other brands 
of cigars made in Cuba. 

There are grown in Cuba large quantities of Leaf Tobacco other than Vuelta 
Abajo, but this is all of a cheaper and inferior quality to the famous Vuelta Abajo. 

All this inferior leaf is made into cigars (or cigarettes), and is usually sold 
to smokers for the genuine Havana Cigar made from Vuelta leaf. The differ- 
ence in the smoke of the two is easily detected if one will make the comparison. 
Some dealers prefer to sell you the inferior substitutes because there is more profit 
in them ; other dealers who either do not smoke themselves or who are too care- 
less or indifferent to test them, will sometimes offer the substitute to you. The 
salesmen of some dealers are sometimes influenced by the manufacturers of these 
inferior cigars to recommend them to you. The prices to the consumer for the 
genuine and the substitute are about the same. 




VUELTA ABAJO TOBACCO IN FLOWER— FOR SEED. 

8 



SELECTION OF SEED. 
This should always be taken from the first growth or original plant and not 
from the sprout or second growth from the same root, which has frequently been 
done in Cuba. The plant from which the seed should be taken should be of 
perfect growth and from a plant which is seen to be healthy and to be maturing 
properly. 

THE GROWTH AND SELECTION OF SEEDLINGS. 
These are grown in well-selected plots of land and near the field into which 
the seedlings are to be transplanted. It is important that the seedlings be strong, 
healthy and well rooted and that they be re-set in the fields as quickly as possible 
after they are taken from the small plots where they are grown and when the 
seedlings are about six inches in height. 

SELECTION OF FERTILIZERS. 
The quality of the fertilizer to be used is determined by an exact scientific 
analysis of a perfect plant of tobacco and then by placing the chemical properties 
essential to perfect plant growth in the proportions in which these properties have 
been found to exist in the perfect plant. The quality of fertilizer used is also 
determined by an exhaustive and thorough analysis of the soils. Experience has 
taught that it is desirable to place over the lands on which tobacco is to be grown 
two or three inches of vegetable matter, and this is usually of partly decomposed 
hay, which has been cut from the grazing lands near the tobacco fields. 




VUELTA ABAJO TOBACCO— CUT AND POLED AND READY FOR THE CURING BARNS. 

IO 



CUTTING OR HARVESTING. 

The only point in this is to see that the plant is ripe, not green. There is 
the same difference between ripe and green tobacco that there is between ripe and 
green fruit. The ripe tobacco smokes mild, "smooth" and cool — there is no 
harshness or bitter taste, and it burns evenly and gives a clear steel-gray ash, called 
the " Havana Gray." 

The green or unripe tobacco smokes very differently — it is harsher and 
invariably bitter 
and unpleasant to 
the taste, and never 
has that delicate 
aromatic flavor and 
aroma so highly 
prized by those 
who know the 
qualities that make 
the perfect Havana 
cigar. 




LEAF TOBACCO ON POLES READY FOR CURING, 



II 




INTERIOR OF CURING BARN— THE TOBACCO HANGING ON POLES AS BROUGHT IN FROM FIELDS. 

12 



DRYING AND CURING. 

This is done in well ventilated and well built barns and sheds. The plants 
being here suspended on poles, the pure, warm, moist air of Cuba passes con- 
stantly over and through the leaf while it is in this position, until by natural 
evaporation the greenness and rankness incident to growth and life, is extracted. 
The tobacco hangs in these curing barns several weeks and gradually changes 
in color from the vivid green of the healthy and perfect plant, when cut, to 
different shades of brown, influenced by the varying texture and " body " of the 
leaf — whether heavy and coarse or light and thin. 




BALES OF TOBACCO IN STORAGE. 
13 




VUELTA ABAJO TOBACCO IN BALES— AS RECEIVED FROM THE PLANTATION. 



BALING AND STORAGE OF THE LEAF. 

When the leaf is nearly cured by the process mentioned under the foregoing 
heading, it is placed in Pilones or bulks to go through a "sweating" process of a 
couple of days, and then it is assorted in grades of different quality and strength 
and placed in bales weighing about ioo lbs. each. It is then placed in storage 
warehouses for fermentation and further curing. The warehouses should be of 
brick or stone, perfectly ventilated, absolutely clean, with very little light. The 
temperature in these storage places should not vary at any time more than 10 
degrees Fahrenheit. Under such conditions the tobacco will ferment, cure and 
ripen to perfection, and after one to two years, according to grade of leaf, is fit to 
be rolled into a cigar. 



THE FACTORY— MAKING CIGARS. 

At least three things are essential in the factory : i st, good workmen and 
workmanship ; these are had only by good pay, steady employment and 
intelligent supervision ; 2nd, absolute cleanliness, which requires perfect ventilation; 
3d, fine leaf tobacco, cured, ripened, selected and blended so as to produce under 
each brand the particular and individual character of cigar recognized and 
demanded by the users of each different brand. 

15 




MOISTENING CIGAR TOBACCO— THE SECOND PROCESS IN CIGARMAK1NG. 

16 



SOMETHING OF THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING. 

When the Leaf Tobacco Is Received in "the factory the bales are opened up 
and the leaf sprayed wkB clean, pure water"; then it is placed away in Pilones or 
bulks, always straight,' for se^er&Lftc&rpi until the leaf becomes moist and pliant 
and so each leaf can % oe Opened without tearing or >bfeaking. It is then selected 
and graded according to /size /strength^ colpr; etcv- After this selecting the leaf 
intended to be used as fillers is /pjriejgds in, .barrels or bins with ample openings 
at the sides and top for ventilation, evaporation, and further curing. This 
process takes from two to six weeks, according to the different grades of leaf, 
and is intended to complete any imperfect curing up to this time. This proc- 
ess is watched daily by experts. When the leaf in this process is exactly ripe it 
is then taken from the bins or barrels and given to the cigarmakers and rolled 
into cigars. As fast as the cigars are rolled they are passed to the foreman or 
inspectors of the factory, who carefully examine each cigar, and then they are 
placed in the large "escaparates" or old seasoned cedar bins. 

All rejections are packed separately and sold as such. Those acceptable to 
the selectors (these being under the constant eye of the superintendent) are placed 
in old seasoned cedar bins and cases, provided with a little ventilation, so that any 
excessive moisture left in the cigar will pass off" by evaporation. The cigars 
remain in these cedar bins until the orders are received at the factories for them, 
when they are passed to the selectors who, in separate rooms, at polished tables, 

17 




THE FAMOUS "HF 




CTORY, HAVANA. 



under a good north light, assort the cigars into various colors and shades (about 
32), rejecting any imperfectly made or not up to standard, while other men pack the 
cigars into the well-known little cedar boxes of 25, 50 and 100 cigars. Afterward 
they are labeled, packed in larger pine cases and shipped throughout the world. 

The rolling — or making — is one of the most skillful and most interesting 
phases of the whole process of cigar production. Here sit men who have first, 




BLENDING FILLER TOBACCO. 



20 




VUELTA ABAJO TOBACCO— TO BE USED FOR FILLER— AIRING IN THE FACTORY RACKS. 

21 



as boys, served long apprenticeships to learn the rudiments and fundamentals 
of cigarmaking and for years have steadily and continuously improved and gained 
in skill by making the same size and shape cigar all the time. Some of our 
most experienced cigarmakers have made the same cigar every working day for 
twenty years. They are "artists" and their work is unequalled in perfection of 
finish, evenness and certainty of uniformity in "filling" and unvarying excellence 
in smoking quality through perfect construction. 

THE PROPER CARE OF CIGARS BY IMPORTER, WHOLESALER 

AND DEALER. 

The proper care and storage of Havana Cigars from the time they are made 
until they are in the hands of the smoker for use is very important, in fact 
essential, if one demands a fine cigar. Tobacco is a very sensitive leaf. When 
properly cured and ready for use it is absorbent. It will absorb moisture like a 
sponge and will take up any impure air and smell in its presence. You can test 
this easily by subjecting a box of cigars for a few hours to sea air. 

Havana tobacco is certainly the most delicate and sensitive of any tobacco 
grown, and has also a flavor and aroma unequalled by any other Leaf Tobacco in 
the world. As it absorbs quickly, it throws off or evaporates quickly. In any 
extreme of this absorption and evaporation the real character, flavor and aroma 
of Havana tobacco is lost. You can prove this by subjecting a box of Havana 
Cigars to extremes of heat or cold, moisture or dryness and noting the result. 




CIGARMAKERS AT WORK— ROLLING THE DIFFERENT SIZES AND SHAPES OF HAVANA CIGARS. 



2 3 



How evident then is the necessity for seeing that your Havana Cigars are 
properly kept and not carelessly subjected, while in the dealer's hands, to impure 
odors or extremes of temperature. 

The best temperature for Havana 
Cigars is about 6$ degrees Fahrenheit, 
with only enough moisture to keep the 
cigars from drying, say 70 per cent. 

See that the dealer of whom you buy 
your cigars keeps them right. They will no 
more stand foul air, the extremes of heat 
and cold, wet and dry air, with the lids of 
the boxes being continually open^ than would 
the finest champagne stand such treatment. 
MANY COMPLAINTS AGAINST THE 
CIGAR ITSELF SHOULD BE MADE 
AGAINST THE CARELESS DEALER IN 
WHOSE HANDS THE FINEST HAV- 
ANA CIGAR IS QUICKLY RUINED- 
ITS TRUE AND ORIGINAL QUALITY 
AND CHARACTER DESTROYED AND 
LOST. 




SORTING COLORS. 



24 




THE "ESCAPARATES" FOR STORING FINISHED CIGARS UNTIL PACKED. 

25 



COLORS OF CIGARS. 
A dark wrapper does not necessarily mean a strong cigar. A dark color, or 
as it is expressed in Spanish "Maduro" means ripe. The wrapper leaf which 
encases the cigar determines its color only. The filler, or inside of the cigar, 
which is 90 per cent, of its weight, determines its character. Both light and 
dark wrappers may be bitter and strong if they have not been thoroughly ripened 
and cured by proper fermentation. 

HOW TO SMOKE HAVANA CIGARS. 
Smoke them slowly, else the combustion will be imperfect and the greater 
part of that delicate aroma which belongs to a good Havana Cigar is lost. No 

one would think of gulping down 
old wine as they would buttermilk, 
and to smoke a fine Havana Cigar 
rapidly is about as foolish. 

All that has been stated in the 
foregoing pages is rigidly and in- 
variably performed in the manufac- 
turing of the Havana Cigars that are 
sold by Havana Tobacco Company. 
The recognized character and indi- 
vidual peculiarities of each one of 




TYING BUNDLES FOR PACKING. 



26 




SORTING ROOM, CORONA CIGAR FACTORY. 

27 



these twenty-three famous brands are strictly maintained in every trait that has 
won world-wide fame for these standard brands of Havana Cigars. 

THEY ARE THE BEST CIGARS IN THE WORLD FOR THESE REASONS: 

First — No one else gives the same care in selection of lands and soil for planting. 

Second — No one else takes the same pains to secure only the most perfect 



growth and curing. 




TRIMMING CIGAR BOXES. 



'Third — No one else can give the 
same uniformly high quality 
in genuine Vuelta Abajo leaf 
as sufficient supply does not 
exist outside of our own 
production from the lands 
we own. 

Fourth — There are no cigar- 
makers living who can ex- 
cel our workmen, whose 
lives have been spent in 
the factories where they are 
now making the same cigars 
they have always made. 



28 



The brands of Havana Cigars referred to in this book are the 

AFRICAN A, ANTIGUEDAD, BOCK Y C a., CABANAS, 
CARVAJAL, CAROLINA, COMERCIAL, CORONA, DON 
QUIXOTE, ESPANOLA, ESTELLA, FLOR DE CUBA, FLOR 
DE MURIAS, FLOR DE YNCLAN, HENRY CLAY, 
INTIMIDAD, J. S. MURIAS, MANUEL GARCIA ALONSO, 
PEDRO MURIAS, ROSA DE SANTIAGO, VENCEDORA, 
VILLAR Y VILLAR. 

Eighty per cent. (80%) of all the Havana Cigars sold in the world 
are of these brands. 



V) 




SECTION OF C1GARMAKFRS' ROOM, CABANAS FACTORY. 

3° 



^ 




TRIMMING SPECIAL CABINETS AND SAMPLE ALBUMS. 



31 



DEVILLAR 




VILLAR 

A de Villar y Villar 



FOR NEARLY A CENTURY THIS TRADE-MARK HAS BEEN 
FAMOUS IN HAVANA AND HAS ALWAYS REPRESENTED 
THE FINEST QUALITY OF CIGARS EVER MADE IN CUBA. 



These cigars are the best cigars that are now made in Cuba. 

They have been sold almost exclusively in Spain and England 
on account of their extremely fine quality and straight shape. 
They are now offered to American smokers and have been 
given these new grading names to identify them in size and price. 

No better cigars can be made, as only the choicest tobacco, the ripest, most 
mature and sweetest leaf is used in making them. 

The straight shape is the original and best shape, as it burns better, draws 
more evenly and gives you more tobacco to smoke than the pointed shape. 

"Smoke them slowly ', as you would sip old wine." 

The darker colors are the most to be desired, as they smoke sweeter and 
mellower. "A light wrapper does not make a mild cigar!" 



These statements are responsibly made and can be verified — and all discrim- 
inating smokers of Havana Cigars will be gratified to know that cigars of this 
highest quality, finest workmanship and choicest leaf can now be obtained from 
the leading dealers in the United States. 



32 



LIEUTENANTS 
15 CENTS 

CAPTAINS 

3 FOR 50 CENTS 



ADJUTANTS 
20 CENTS 



MAJORS 
25 CENTS 



COLONELS 
3 FOR £1.00 



GENERALS 
50 CENTS 




33 



^e£ 






v* 



JULIAN AW 






Flor de Henry Clay 



There is no better known name and trade-mark 
identified with Havana Cigars than HENRY CLAY. 
This name has for several generations stood for fine 
quality only, and has without doubt had as much influ- 
ence in building up the reputation of Havana Cigars as 
any one brand known to the public. 



Here are six new shapes and sizes — original and 
distinguished ! They have the refined " Regalia " style, but modified from the 
extreme pointed shape. The skill, the experience and the traditions of a century 
are combined in this new production from the famous HENRY CLAY factory. 
A selection of tobacco has been made for these six new " NAVY " sizes from our 
own plantations that is unapproachable ', for they are mild and yet have that rare 
aromatic quality so prized in the finer Havana Cigars. They are made in the 
original HENRY CLAY factory and by the same workmen who have made 
HENRY CLAY cigars for a generation. 

In addition to possessing these characteristic traits of quality and style, these 
new shapes and these new names are given them to aid the smoker to identify 
the different sizes and fix in his mind their grading prices. They are now for 
sale by the leading Importers and Retailers of fine cigars in all the large cities in 
the United States. 



34 






:ents 



3ER 



DDORE 



o 
VY 

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 532 234 8 

THE REASON WHY CIGAR BANDS ARE USED. 

Millions of domestic cigars, made in duplicate shapes and to closely resemble th 
genuine imported Havana Cigars of our standard brands, are supplied at low cost to ret; 
cigar dealers in all parts of this country by unscrupulous manufacturers, to be used f« 
"stuffing" or filling up boxes that originally contained genuine imported cigars, and mar 
dishonest dealers buy empty "imported" boxes and re-fill them with these imitatic 
domestic substitutes. Imitations of all our standard brands are also made in Havana. Th 
is why it is necessary for us. at a cost of nearly a quarter of a million dollars a year, 
band our brands of cigars to protect you from this criminal fraud. 

OUR BRANDS OF HAVANA CIGARS 

include every variety known to and demanded by the varying tastes of the most intellige 
and exacting cigar smokers in the world — the mild and delicate blends made of the fine 
and lightest leaf; the full-flavored blends made of the heavier leaf that yields the mc 
"body" and aroma, and also all the intermediate grades, from mildest to strongest. 

MORAL. 

Either buy your imported cigars of honest dealers — or else examine carefully t 
boxes and bands of the cigars shown you — if you wish to avoid being imposed upon aj 
swindled by the spurious domestic-made substitutes that are commonly offered and so 
as genuine Havana Cigars. 

If you are buying imported Havana Cigars of a dealer whom you do not know, a 
him to show you a box that has not been opened ; then you will be reasonably sure of gettii 
the genuine goods. 

36 



